Attempts have been made to provide night lights for toilets. One such device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,206. This invention relates to a toilet light assembly. In this device a flexible moisture impermeable, transparent tube is positioned under an upper rim of the toilet bowl and extends therearound. A plurality of spaced apart electrical lamps lay within the tube and are wired with a switch and a power source for receiving electrical power. The switch is position sensitive and may be fixed to the toilet seat, the seat being capable of assuming a horizontal or a vertical orientation. A first latching switch and a second latching switch are included, each of which may energize the lamps by either lifting the toilet seat into a vertical position or by lowering the hinged member into a horizontal position, respectively. A delay circuit de-energizes the lamps by breaking the circuit after a pre-set delay time.
Another apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,288. This patent discloses an improved toilet seat which additionally serves as a night light and which aids a person in finding a toilet seat in a darkened bathroom during a night time. The toilet seat is made of resins or plastics that is clear or colored-tinted and the toilet seat has a clear lucite rod cast within its center. One end of the lucite rod is aligned with an electric lamp stationarily supported and wherein the lamp light automatically goes out when the toilet seat is raised.
These systems do serve as a night light thus minimizing some of the adverse effects of the darkness of the bathroom environment at night. However, these do not provide a lighting apparatus which acts as a night light which is activated when an individual enters the bathroom while at the same time providing an indication of the position of the toilet seat on the toilet. Such a system is desirable.
Therefore there is an ongoing need for an apparatus that is activated when an individual enters a bathroom while at the same time providing a lighted indicator of the position of the toilet seat on the toilet.